Thapelo Phukubye: RwandAir Resumes flights to Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe

Thursday, May 6, 2021

RwandAir Resumes flights to Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe

Credit: Lusaka Times

Economy RwandAir Resumes flights to Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe
Rwanda’s national carrier, RwandAir has announced a resumption of flights to South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe after a three-month suspension.

The resumption of flights will be to Zambia’s capital Lusaka, Zimbabwe’s capital Harare and South Africa’s economic centres Cape Town and Johannesburg.

In February, the airline halted flights to South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe due to a variant of COVID-19 which had been reported in the countries.

The suspension came close to two months after authorities in South Africa announced the detection of the variant, 501Y.V2.

“We’re glad to announce the resumption of our services to Harare and Cape Town with 2 weekly flights from 14 May 2021,” the airline said in a notice.

Flights to Cape Town and Harare will operate twice weekly, as will flights to Lusaka, which will resume on May 7.

Flights to Johannesburg will resume on the same day as those to Lusaka and will operate thrice weekly.

For passengers arriving from South Africa, a certificate of a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours before departure time is mandatory.

Additionally, such passengers will be screened on arrival and those presenting symptoms will be required to have a Covid-19 test.

For passengers from Zambia, a Covid-19 PCR certificate of a test done 7days prior to arrival will be required. However, if a passenger takes the test on arrival, they must self-isolate for at least two days until results are out.

RwandAir suffered a blow during the COVID-19 pandemic and is seeking to recover by putting in place health and safety measures and protocols to restore customer confidence, including a COVID-19 vaccination program for all staff.